Tag: winning

You can’t always have your cake and eat it, too. Sometimes you have to take great risks to reap great rewards. When these risks pay off, you will be a hero, a genius. When the risk does not pan out, you will be vilified. Those of you that watch American football will understand this; think about on-side kicks, 2-pt conversions, and going for it on 4th down. The papers the next day hail the coach as a genius when those plays work, and call for him to be fired when they don’t.

If you’ll pardon the rough analogy, today Andy Schleck went for it on 4th and long. He won the stage, and took enough time back from his rivals to put himself in the thick of the hunt going into the final two decisive stages.

In the post-race interview, Andy said that he didn’t care if he lost the race, that he was trying to win it. While that might seem oxymoronic, it’s actually the crux of the situation – you have to risk it all to win it all.

For most of us, “winning it all” has a slightly different appearance than it does for Andy Schleck, but it is no less important. Just because your personal battle will never be on TV doesn’t mean it’s not a battle, and worth fighting for.

The great riders, the great coaches, have the courage to lay it all on the line in pursuit of victory. Do you?

Steen A. Rose is an elite cycling and triathlon coach. He started coaching in 2003, and has been an Elite Coach with Training Bible Coaching since 2009. Steen is also captain of the Sun & Ski/Subaru Cycling and Triathlon teams. He has been racing since 1997, holds a Category 1 license, and has 13 state championships, 3 national medals, and 4 international podiums to his credit. He can be reached at srose@trainingbible.com